A COMMON GROUND FOR MOTHERS

What do you remember or like best about your Mother? Think about it and enjoy it.
I have a favorite story about our mother and a woman called "Ma" Troop .

My brother and I grew up in a small mid western village . Our home was the original farm house from the farm land that made up the village. We accumulated some characters there and a lot of the time we didn't know where they came from.

A woman , we only ever knew as "Ma" Troop and her two sons came to our village and moved into a vacant house. She brought with her a lot of chickens and a poor old cow. They supposedly came from Tennessee and all did have a deep southern drawl. The boys enrolled in school and they became an eccentric part of our little community.

"Ma"" Troop was a giant of a woman. Over six feet tall and a very easy 250 pounds!! It was quite a sight to see her walking down the street leading that cow by a piece of rope around its neck. No one ever bothered her until she met up with our diminutive,auburn haired Mother ,who though slow to anger,got pushed just a little to far by this woman.

It had become a common practice for "Ma" Troop to take the cow to various vacant lots and stake it there to graze. She had also been know to stake it in folks yards while they would be gone and always remove it before they returned. Of course the cow was not careful---it always left a little evidence that it had been there.

My mother took great pride in her home and her yard. The particular morning that "Ma" Troop entered her life or vice versa,was one of those sunny, dewy mornings in June. My brother and uncle had gone fishing . My cousin Kenny and I were seated on the back porch putting on our roller skates. A very pleasant day.

It was about 9 am.; time for my mother to take her laundry off of the clothesline. She was going cheerfully about her task when she looked up and saw "Ma" Troop staking her cow in my mother 's beautiful back yard.
The noise coming from my mother's throat was between a scream and a growl. Was this woman the dear, quiet,smiling lady I had always known?
"Get that cow out of my yard!"she screamed." Right now. I mean it. Now!!! "
"Ma" Troop made no effort to move.
"But,Ma'm" , she said.
My mother drew herself up to her full five feet four(this brought her to about just below "Ma" Troops breasts) She was still screaming and shaking her fists. The neighbors were beginning to come into their back yards.

"Now ! Get that cow out of my yard and don"t you ever, ever,try that again!!"

"Ma" Troop grumbled something. She unstaked her cow and walked off shaking her head. My mother stood there in a defiant stance with her arms folded until "Ma" and her cow were out of sight.

Neighbors came walking over from their yards,laughing and talking about my mother and the picture she made standing up to this giant!

My Aunt Evie came running from her house saying,"My Gosh, you know she could have squashed you like bug. Weren't you scared?'

My mother collapsed with laughter on to the wet grass saying,"Yes, I was, but I couldn't let that cow walk all over my new begonias."

From that time on "Ma" Troop had great respect for my mother and they spoke in a friendly manner. My mother always referred to her as Mrs. Troop (though we never saw a Mr. Troop) "Ma" Troop smiled when my mother greeted her. She never tried to stake her cow in our yard again. End of story?? Not quite.
WW ll came a long. My brother and other young men from the community went to war,including Mrs. Troops oldest son. When her son was shot down and the government came with the dreaded telegram my mother was one of the first women there to comfort her.
Two mothers,one educated with a mind like a library and one who could not read or write, but they had a common ground, they were both mothers.